TB's Elliot Johnson took out Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli on a play at the plate today that resulted in broken wrist. Girardi says it's uncalled for, Maddon says he's fine with it. I'm not making this a "boo hoo the Yankees catcher is hurt" thread, just curious what people think about such aggressive play in spring training. I can see both sides of the coin, Elliot is a 25 year old with no real shot at making the majors so he is trying to impress with hard nosed play, while at the same time there is nothing to gain in scoring a run in spring training. Thoughts?

Maddon must have threatened the Rays players with rolling over catchers this spring.

As far as the play, there is nothing wrong with it, and I see why Elliot did it. If for some reason he made the big league team, it would be from his hustle more then his ability, and this is the type of play that can get him noticed in Tampa. As far as Crawford though, I can't see myself risking injury in a spring training collision if I was already a star and guaranteed a starting spot.

raiders_umpire wrote:As far as the play, there is nothing wrong with it, and I see why Elliot did it. If for some reason he made the big league team, it would be from his hustle more then his ability, and this is the type of play that can get him noticed in Tampa. As far as Crawford though, I can't see myself risking injury in a spring training collision if I was already a star and guaranteed a starting spot.

I agree. If a player is trying to make the team then he needs to do whatever he can. If an established player did it then it was unnecessary.

raiders_umpire wrote:As far as the play, there is nothing wrong with it, and I see why Elliot did it. If for some reason he made the big league team, it would be from his hustle more then his ability, and this is the type of play that can get him noticed in Tampa. As far as Crawford though, I can't see myself risking injury in a spring training collision if I was already a star and guaranteed a starting spot.

I agree. If a player is trying to make the team then he needs to do whatever he can. If an established player did it then it was unnecessary.

Yea, I don't really think I can fault him, I would probably do the same thing. I also won't have any problem with the retaliation from Girardi.

KCollins1304 wrote: I also won't have any problem with the retaliation from Girardi.

Neither will I. A Rays/Yanks rivalry has been brewing for a few years now, I would love to see it take off into a big scale war between the two teams. Of course that means the Rays would have to be competitive for it to be a worthwhile rivalry.

Ridiculous. There absolutely is something wrong with this. Crawford runs over an Astros catcher and now this? You want to shake it off as a young player trying to make the team but that's bull and doesn't explain why Crawford did it and doesn't explain why Maddon was so glib about it.

Maine has a good swing for a pitcher but on anything that moves, he has no chance. And if it's a fastball, it has to be up in the zone. Basically, the pitcher has to hit his bat. - Mike Pelfrey

Amazinz wrote:Ridiculous. There absolutely is something wrong with this. Crawford runs over an Astros catcher and now this? You want to shake it off as a young player trying to make the team but that's bull and doesn't explain why Crawford did it and doesn't explain why Maddon was so glib about it.

I don't understand why Crawford risked a possible injury, and Maddon has always been a bit crazy. But as far as Johnson, I would have done the same thing if I was in his shoes for sure with no hesitation. The difference between being a minor leaguer and a major leaguer is worth the injury concerns, and I would run over another catcher again today if I were Johnson.

My main problem with this is the organization. Two times now is a pattern of behavior as far as I am concerned. And it is classless. If the Rays want to instill a hard-nosed atmosphere, kudos to them, but I think it's more appropriate that you do it when the games count. I have a hard time believing your opinion would be the same if the situation was reversed.

Maine has a good swing for a pitcher but on anything that moves, he has no chance. And if it's a fastball, it has to be up in the zone. Basically, the pitcher has to hit his bat. - Mike Pelfrey

One thing that I definitely didn't like about it is that Maddon hid in his office after the game so he wouldn't have to answer questions about it. If you're going to support something questionable like running over catchers in spring training, you should have the balls to take questions from the media about it.

I watched this play live and I was kind of stunned, especially since Crawford had just done the same thing. Honestly, I don't think it's the right thing to do, and I really don't really like how Maddon has been handling it, but I also understand the player's perspective. I agree that a player like Carl Crawford has no business doing something like this, but I can at least understand (even if I don't agree with) Johnson's motivation.